Kenya PM Raila Odinga appeals election results

[JURIST] Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga [official website; Al Jazeera profile] on Friday appealed the results of Kenya's 2013 election [JURIST report] to Kenya's Supreme Court. Kenya's election commission declared Uhuru Kenyatta [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], son of Kenya's first president Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, the winner of the nation's 2013 presidential election earlier this month. Odinga has accused electoral authorities of "electoral theft" [press release] and stated that he is appealing the results of the election to "ensure elections count." Police dispersed [BBC report] a crowd of Odinga's supporters outside the Kenyan Supreme Court after they were told that they would not be allowed to congregate. Odinga called on his supporters to not resort to violence and stated that he would respect the decision of the Supreme Court, whatever the result.

The challenge to the election results comes five years after Kenya's disputed 2007 election [JURIST news archive] which resulted in several of Kenya's leaders being charged before the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] with crimes against humanity. Last week the ICC dropped [JURIST report] the crimes against humanity charges against former Kenyan cabinet secretary Francis Muthaura [case materials] after encountering various issues with evidence and witness testimony. Earlier this month the ICC agreed to delay [JURIST report] until July the trials of Kenyatta and Muthaura. Last month Kenyatta and Muthaura asked [JURIST report] the ICC to review the decision to move forward with the trial. In December, Kenyatta and former cabinet minister William Ruto [case materials] announced [JURIST report] that they would be running together in the March elections despite the upcoming trials. In October the ICC called for complete cooperation [JURIST report] from the Kenyan government in the investigation and trial process. Journalist Joshua Arap Sang is also facing trial alongside Ruto for crimes against humanity. In June the ICC expressed its desire to start Kenyatta's and Ruto's trials simultaneously [JURIST report] to avoid any appearance of bias in the March 2013 presidential election.

About Paper Chase

Paper Chase is JURIST's real-time legal news service, powered by a team of 30 law student reporters and editors led by law professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. As an educational service, Paper Chase is dedicated to presenting important legal news and materials rapidly, objectively and intelligibly in an accessible format.